VML India’s Shilpi Dey and Raj Thakkar win Audio Category at Cairns Hatchlings 2026 for ‘The Sounds of Humanity’

​VML India is bringing home a massive win from Cairns, Australia, with senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar clinching the top spot in the Audio category at Cairns Hatchlings 2026. The duo triumphed after tackling a live, 24-hour brief from the UN Foundation aimed at saving 87 million lives by redirecting the subscription economy toward human survival.

Their winning idea, ‘The Sounds of Humanity,’ leveraged real-time API integration to create a living, breathing Spotify track built entirely from global user uploads. By turning everyday human moments into an interactive, evolving anthem, Shilpi and Raj successfully transformed a massive global challenge into a deeply intimate audio experience.

Speaking about the 24-hour creative marathon, the newly crowned winners, Shilpi Dey and Raj Thakkar said, "Working on a brief of this magnitude for the UN Foundation, with a 24-hour countdown ticking in the background, was an unforgettable experience. We battled through nerves, self-doubt, and sleeplessness, but the sheer purpose behind the brief kept us going. We wanted to use the raw, real sounds of people to create an immediate emotional connection and prove that audio can be an active tool for solidarity. We are incredibly grateful to our mentors at VML India for their unwavering support, and seeing our names as winners makes every scrapped idea and late-night pivot completely worth it.”

Applauding the team’s victory, Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer, VML India said, “This recognition is truly special as it comes from a platform dedicated to emerging talent across APAC. Shilpi and Raj winning in the Audio category at Cairns Hatchlings 2026 reinforces our belief that the next generation of Indian creatives is well rounded to produce work that is globally relevant, culturally nuanced and emotionally compelling. We’re immensely proud of the team for turning a powerful human insight into an idea that resonated so strongly on an international stage.”

This year’s Cairns Hatchlings finals had one team each, across Audio and Design categories respectively, from VML India, continuing their streak of creative excellence since the inception of the competition last year.